What the story at FI?

Leadweight - Can you tell us about the facilities at FI? There seem to be endless conflicting rumors and second-hand reports of run down facility vs. reasonable accommodations; best vs. worst resort food in Roatan; lackluster vs. good dive operations. Any thoughts? Any comparisons you can offer? Thanks!

I'm NOT leadweight - but I was there about 18 months ago and here is what I found/saw...

Air conditioned rooms - worked well
Fridge in each room - good for drinks
Good and plentiful food (surf/turf one night, lobster/crab/shrimp another, etc. fresh ice cream at lunch and dinner...)
Staff even made us extra sandwiches out of prime rib one night for breakfast next morning...
Nice staff, know everyone by name
Clean rooms
Good boat/dives/staff
Guard station preventing locals from coming in without permission, so resort is protected from locals
BTW - keep gear in locker room close to boat, locked at night, I think...
Interesting wild-life - peacocks, real turkeys (gobble, gobble type), strange rabbit-like "watussi"s, lizards, etc.
Bugs - no-see ums, plan to wear sunscreen/bug-protection
Pool not great, salt-water I think...
Great night dives!!! Octopus, crabs, shrimp, etc. all out!

Heard that they had changed owners before we were there last time and that the previous owners/management had done illegal things and got caught (drugs???). Anyway, new management and things were great when we were there... Check out a posting at Roatan in the Carribean section of this site - original posting was there/in wrong area/not here - anyway going there next week... If you want, I can e-mail how it was after I get back...

I'd love to hear what you have to say about the place!

I went to Roatan and stayed at FI in January so I may be able to add a little info about the place.

Allen G, you are probably seeing all the conflicting reports because there are new owners who just took over last year. I don't know anything about the previous management, but FI was apparently going downhill fast before the new owners came in. When I went in Jan, I couldn't have been happier with my choice of hotel, especially after seeing several of the other hotels on the island. I've been to Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Belize and trust me, Fantasy Island is definitely an upscale hotel so don't listen to the reports that it's run down--people who are expecting Mini-America should stay home or go to Cancun.

The food was very good for an all-inclusive...tons of choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner, there was always a made-to-order grill special at breakfast and dinner, in addition to the fresh homemade ice cream, fresh fruit, breads, soup, etc and the desserts were to die for--REAL chocolate! All meals were buffet style and believe me when I say even the pickiest of eaters wouldn't starve. And from the research I did, FI seems to have the most liberal food hours--most of the other resorts had only 1-1 1/2 hours for each meal. FI's meals start at 7am and dinner goes until 10pm. On Friday nights, they have a beach bonfire and the restaurant has lobster/shrimp night--it's a big party night since most visitors book Sat-Sat. Speaking of party, don't miss happy hour every evening from 5-6pm with 1/2 price drinks and they have a pool table and a ping pong table.

The rooms were very nice--comfy beds, AC, mini-fridge, TV, phone, shower with bathtub, closet with shelves, ceiling fan and the maids kept them spotless. Make sure to leave a tip every day since they work hard and deserve it. I also have it on good authority (thank you Valerie that the new owners are currently re-doing all the rooms,, as well as putting in a mini-golf and adding onto the dive shop so it will now be a full service dive shop for instruction, equipment sales, etc. 2 beautiful beaches to lay on with tons of chairs and lounges--just bring your insect repellent.

Speaking of the dive op, Robert, the dive shop manager, runs a tight ship and things ran very smoothly while we were there. He did everything he could to ensure the safety and enjoyment of every guest and welcomed any feedback. The boats leave every morning at 9am, 11am and 2:30pm and there is one night dive during the week.They usually go out, do 1 dive, then come back to the dock for the surface interval since the dive sites are so close. Then you have a nice long break for lunch and some beach time and then go back out at 2:30pm. Since they have 4 boats, they have to coordinate all 4 boats' dives for the day and check with CocoView's schedule to ensure that there aren't tons of boats on one site at the same time. I think this is great and I don't know how Robert manages to coordinate all that but it works great. The only time we ever had more than one boat on the same site was at Mary's Place and that was a screw-up on CocoView's part--they weren't scheduled to be there at that time on that day. So you don't have to worry about having 500 divers running into you!

There is also shore diving--and yes it is available 24/7 despite what you may have heard. FI has a gazebo with lights, benches and a nice deck for a stride entry or a ladder to climb down to get in the water. They leave about 5-6 tanks there every night in case someone gets a wild hair and wants to do a night dive. But if you make arrangements ahead of time for more than that, they will leave however many tanks you want. There is a skiff that will take you and/or your equipment to the gazebo and come pick you up after your dive if it's before the dive shop closes. Otherwise you just lug your equipment yourself but it's not that big of a deal. The shore diving is the same as CocoView--it's done in the channel between the 2 hotels. It's mainly the Prince Albert, CocoView Wall and Newman's wall but there are other things to see too since there are tons of fish right around the gazebo--I guess they're attracted to the lights.

Sorry so long, but wanted to get a recent report out there--let me know if you have any questions!

Angie

Except that I am leadweight. I was down there for the second time this year and liked it as much as my first visit. Things are nice. It beats every other dive resort I have ever been to in the food and hotel departments.

This trip we had a sort of messed up fan in our room. One word to the manager and it was replaced with a brand new fan. The AC worked 24/7. The room had a brand new hardwood floor. The manager is a diver and also a 14 year veteran of hotel management. The owner is a Spanish company. About a dozen guests were from Europe.

People were comming over from Coco View to eat dinner even though their packages were meal inclusive. One night we had lamb chops grilled to order, smoked salmon, fried calamari and several excellent salads. Friday they have a great seafood dinner with grilled lobster tails. The food is real resort fare professionally prepared and served on granite buffet counters.

Average dive time was about 55 minutes and could have been an hour. They take you over to the West End for a 2 tank day trip. I had the same divemaster, Derry. Ask for him.

Some folks did a lot of shore diving, but I did not. I guess the three one hour boat dives a day were enough for me that week. They take you over to the Prince Albert in a small boat and then you can swim back to the Gazebo following a cable. When you get there use the phone to call the dive shop and the boat comes to get you. If it is late drop your tank there and it is a short walk back to your room.

Some dive highlites: Best example of a grouper being cleaned by shrimp that I have seen yet and the largest crab that I have ever seen. Frequent free swimming green morey eels. My third trip to Mary's place. Seahorses on three different dives. The area has lots of nice sponges, soft coral and tons of friendly grouper and queen anglefish.

I prefer the three full boat dive system to CCV's two boat dives and 2 drop off dives per day. The drop off dives get boring as they are the same two sites ending at the same place each time. They tend to be short and then you have to swim back to CCV. You will be diving the same sites that CCV goes to, but getting to more of them.

The only thing that was constantly out of wack last week was that the hot water tended to go through temperature variations while showering. That did not happen in building D where I stayed in march, but it did in the main building.

There was an added attraction. The Temptation Island castaways from the Fox TV show were staying at FI. Some strange young people, none of whom dove. Definitely eye candy.

Leadweight, Tropical Diver, cxg31s - thanks for the info. There is so much misinformation about various resorts that it's nice to have some firsthand info from folks in the know. The rumors do such a disservice to the resorts and the dive industry in general.

FYI - Per crew from the Temptation Island show (a bottom-feeder approach to reality TV), the series should be airing toward the end of the summer. We ran into them at AKR (looked like the dolphins were doing better with the young lady than was boy toy). Beach out by Lawson Rock was barred to keep folks away. The island was crawling with crew and kids. Locals had already had their fill of the TI operation during the previous visits (the island has been a site for a few European editions of Temptation Island). I can't say that I saw the Belize version of the show, but I'm sure that the chance to see Roatan on TV will get me searching for the lost remote control!

Temptation Island ruined Ambergris Caye in Belize and now everything's so overpriced and overrun by the $^$!%$! cruise ships. I guess that wasn't enough...now they're going to ruin Roatan, too! ARGH!

Mrs. Davis,
Hello!! Can you guess who this is? Just wanted to say that we appreciate all of your support to FI. I also got your e-mail when I returned from my trip on Tuesday. I will write you a long up-to-date report on how things went as soon as I get some free time. Anyways, just wanted to calm your nerves a lil concerning the Temptation Island crew. I think it's great actually. Especially the guys from the show, a had me an eyefull during dinners, and leadweight, even though I'm a girl, you are right, the girls from TI, definately had my guy friends tempted. Roatan is getting its long deserved attention from the Media. This whole thing with Fox Network is giving the Island some great attention especially for tourism, which is what our Island needs. Everything right now, jobs, etc...is now being revolved around tourism. Without the tourist, how could our Island Survive?? We welcome everyone. I know Roatan is more a getaway considering that it's not as popular as many other Islands in the Caribbean, and I think it will be a long while before it ever measures up to the different Islands, but it is home to me, no matter how small. Anyways, just wanted to tell you to not get all bummed out. :tree: Well, I'll talk to you soon..........Take Care.....

We spent the day in Roatan last February, yes off a cruise ship and I found it to be much less commercialized and run over by vendors as some of the other popular ports. I hope they can maintain the quaintness and not become overhwhelmed with the increase in the economy to the point of ruin.

I am sure that the money coming in from the cruise ships is a great benefit for the locals. Just look around the island and you can see the need for that income to assist in the lifesyles of those native to Roatan.

We spent the day on the beach and it was the best day we had. We snorkeled, rested on lounge chairs and had a fantastic lunch. The water was beautiful. I watched some OW introductory divers just to the other side of the beach at the AKR and wished I could have been diving too. But, I had chose to spend the day with my husband just relaxing.

I can't wait to go back. Hopefully next year.

IMO, TI has not ruined Ambergirs Caye. In fact, Ambergirs Caye is not ruined at all. It is a great place to go dive and party a bit on the side. Want to talk about someplace that has been ruined, at least topside, talk about Coz.

The TI folk on Roatan were really something else. Not only could none of them dive, quite a few could not even snorkel. This one gal gets out of the water and says "I was just floating in the water." That was it, she never even looked down at the reef.

All in all, I had a great time down there. Can't wait to get back.